1

DEPLOYMENT GUIDE

Aruba AOS-CX Switch Simulator – GNS3 and VirtualBox CREATING A SWITCHING ENVIRONMENT

OVERVIEW

Aruba AOS-CX Switch Simulator The Aruba CX switch series is an advanced product family that offers next generation features that integrate seamlessly with the Aruba Edge Services Platform.

AOS-CX Switch Simulator (CX Simulator) is the virtual machine version of the Aruba CX switch series. At its core an ASIC simulator performs switching and routing functions with the AOS-CX operating system managing and controlling the device’s operation. It offers 10 ports (1 management and 9 network ports) and allows you to build virtual networks on many different virtualization platforms.

With Aruba CX you can:

• Create your own network learning environment • Connect virtual switches and other devices to • Configure different network simulations • Manage, monitor and automate your simulated network

Oracle VM VirtualBox Oracle VM VirtualBox is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor for x86 virtualization, developed by Oracle Corporation. The main limitation you will find on VirtualBox is that it supports a maximum of 8 virtual NICs per device. However, for most AOS-CX Switch Simulator labs, 8 ports are enough.

GNS3 App The GNS3 App is a virtual network creation, management and orchestration. It is usually combined with a VM management platform like VirtualBox or the GNS3-VM.

You can build your simulated networks directly on VirtualBox. However, linking VirtualBox to GNS3 provides more flexibility and makes creating new labs much easier.

In this setup, the AOS-CX Switch Simulator is installed on VirtualBox and linked to GNS3 for lab setup and management.

2

INSTALLATION

Install VirtualBox Download VirtualBox for your PC, or MAC from https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads. Install the application following the instructions in the VirtualBox User Manual (find it in the same page as the application).

Install the Aruba AOS-CX Switch Simulator in VirtualBox • Open VirtualBox Manager and go to File / Import Appliance (Ctrl-I) • Browse and locate the Aruba AOS-CX Simulator (ArubaOS-CX_<version>.ova) • Follow the default installation prompts

• Right-click on the new VM and select settings (Ctrl-S) o Go to System and reduce the Base Memory to 2048 MB

o Change to the Processor Tab and reduce the number of CPUs to 1

o Go to the Network Option (right menu) and attach Adapter 1 to the Host Only Adapter

3

• Click OK to save the changes

Install GNS3 Download and install GNS3 from: https://gns3.com/software/download

Install the Aruba AOS-CX Switch Simulator as a VirtualBox Linked Base VM

• Open GNS3 • Create a project (you can call it Initial Test) • Go to Edit and select Preferences

• On the left menu, select VirtualBox VMs and at the bottom, select New • From the VM list, select the AOS-CX simulator, mark the Use as a link based VM option and click Finish

4

• Once the template is created, edit it to set the right parameters o Change the Template name o Change the Symbol (you can use one of the Aruba Switch icons) o Change the Category to Switches o Change the Console type to Telnet

• Change to the Network tab o Change the number of adapters to 8 o The name format to 1/1/{0} o And Allow GNS3 to use any configured VirtualBox adapter

• Click OK twice to save the configuration

Installing Aruba Icons • The icons must be in PNG format

5

• You may need to resize the icons to make the fit in the diagrams • Find the latest Aruba Switch Icons on the Airheads Simulator Discussion Forum

TEST THE INSTALLATION BY CREATING A SIMPLE LAB

Create a lab using 2 switches and an external connection to their management interfaces • Create a new Project in GNS3 • Drag and drop the AOS-CX Simulation template to the GNS3 desktop twice

• Double-click on each device’s name and change it to CX-1 and CX-2 (or chose any other names) respectively • In GNS3’s left menu, select the Add a link icon

• Click on the first switch and select port 1/1/1, move the cursor to the other switch and also select port 1/1/1

Start the network and validate • Start all nodes

o On the top menu select the start button (green arrow-head) o If the consoles do not open automatically, right click on each device and select Open Console o Option

You can also use your preferred telnet utility to manage the devices, the GNS3-VM will act as your terminal server. Find the IP address and Port number in the Topology Summary box

• Wait until both consoles get to the login prompt (depending on the hardware and virtual resources it may take a few minutes) • On the console of each switch, login with username: admin and no password • You will be prompted to change the password. Assign the password: “admin” • Check the IP address of the management interface. If there is a DHCP Server reachable through the EVE-NGs external

network interface, an IP address will be assigned. If not, you can enter it manually. Result with DHCP server:

switch# show interface mgmt Address Mode: dhcp Admin State: up Mac Address: 50:02:00:01:00:00 IPv4 address/subnet-mask: 10.6.9.231/24 Default gateway IPv4: 10.6.9.1 IPv6 address/prefix: IPv6 link local address/prefix: fe80::5202:ff:fe01:0/64 Default gateway IPv6: Primary Nameserver: 10.80.2.219

6

Secondary Nameserver: • On your PC or MAC, open a web browser and open the WebUI of each switch:

Checking the resource utilization In GNS3, the server summary box shows the resource utilization on the local PC/MAC

END OF TEST

7

www.arubanetworks.com 3333 Scott Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95054 1.844.472.2782 | T: 1.408.227.4500 | FAX: 1.408.227.4550 | info@arubanetworks.com